Anton Stark and his companions, Lokes and Birdy
by A.Kaixin
Summary: Tony really hated magic, especially when it transported him to the magical fantasy world of a crazy sorceress.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Chocolate Bars in the Park

Tony wanted on record that this time it wasn't his fault.

The Avengers had been called to assemble very early on a Friday morning. Or was it Saturday? Was it even morning or was it night? It was possibly Sunday. Okay, so Tony didn't know what day it was; he hadn't slept in a while. The point is that it was dark and Tony was irritated that some villain of the day, actually villains of the day, were causing trouble in Central Park. Consequently pulling him away from his highly essential, life changing project of creating a coffee machine that was incognito as a toaster, with this Tony could finally prevail over Steve and Pepper's combined efforts in confiscating his coffee machine whenever he wasn't looking. Many attempts had been made to secure his precious coffee maker; making it invisible, welding it to the outside of the tower 980 feet in the air, locking it in a titanium, quattuorvigintuple coded, safe, and making it an essential component of the arc reactor powering the tower. All thus attempts has somehow been foiled, he wasn't sure how they pulled off the last one but he suspected a certain sneaky spider had a hand in it. This time Tony knew his plan would work. The others were expecting something extravagant and obvious, thus while they were distracted by his decoy coffee machines, little coffee-toaster would be safe in his workshop.

Unfortunately, the call to assemble came just as Tony was about to sample his creation's creation because that's what made supervillains villains. Apparently, Loki and Amora had been sighted near the Central Park zoo by a party of tourists, and since whenever those two were together there were many explosions and screaming civilians and sometimes a mind controlled, hypnotised, love potioned Thor, Fury wanted the Avengers to check it out. At least this time Thor was with them so he wasn't under Amora's spell. Probably.

"Iron Man, Thor, any sign of Loki and Amora?"

"Coming up to the zoo now Cap." Tony replied over the coms. Flying up to the area the sorcerers had reportedly been seen Tony didn't see much, not because they weren't there but because it was dark. For some reason the street light around the zoo were out, Tony suspected the two sorcerers were responsible.

"See anything Thor?" Tony asked the Norse god flying to his left.

"Nay, the glowing bulbs do not glow. I see naught but tree tops."

Tony turned to Thor sceptically, you would think a so called advanced race of super powerful, magical, alien gods would be able to see better than the average human. Tony told Thor as much.

Thor looked at Tony, frowning. "I would think with all thy boasting of thy genius, thou would have a flash-torch in his 'amazeballs' suit."

"It's flashlight Thor." Natasha said over the coms.

"Amazeballs?" That was Bruce.

"I taught him that." Clint.

"Everyone focus on the mission at hand," Steve, the ever studious leader, "Tony don't you have night vision and heat signature detection in the suit?"

"Of course I have Cap. What do you take me for, Hammer?" Just the thought of Justin Hammer made Tony shudder in repulsion. Turning his attention back to the trees Tony scanned the area for heat signatures, approximately 600 feet away them were two figures standing among the trees. "Got 'em Cap." Tony reported flying towards the targets.

Loki and Amora were standing facing each other, they didn't appear to be doing anything nefarious. Amora was saying something making mildly aggressive hand gestures as she spoke and Loki wore the expression he usually directed at Thor, the I-knew-you-were-a-fool-but-sometimes-I-can't-believe- _how_ -foolish-you-are look. As Tony and Thor got closer, the quinjet right behind them, Amora stopped talking and looked up.

"Loki and Amora we are here to arrest you, surrender peacefully and no one gets hurt." Steve ordered over the quinjet speaker system.

"Avengers," Amora sure sounded pissed, "this is none of your concern, leave before I extinguish you from existence." As daunting as that sounded, threats were a package deal with the superhero gig so Tony wasn't overly concerned.

"Amora." Now _that_ was odd, was it just Tony or did Loki sound like he was warning Amora against extinguishing? No, that made no sense Loki tried to extinguish them as often as Dr Doom attacked the Fantastic Four. He loved extinguishing.

"What's up Rock of Ages, don't want your partner in crime to steal the spotlight?" Not his beat line ever.

"Stark," Loki had an impressive sneer, "you know not of what you speak, leave now."

"Not gonna happen Loki, you're going back to your cell in Asgard and this time your going to stay there. No more conveniently timed pointy ears war for you."

Green magic began accumulating in Loki's hands. "So be it, I warned you." The matter of fact way Loki said that was slightly concerning. Amora also moved into a fighting stance, her hands glowing her usual green-gold but the energy emitting from the right had a strange purple tinge to it. Taking a closer look with his HUD Tony realised Amora was holding something in her hand, it was small enough for her to conceal with her fingers.

"JARVIS scan the object in Amora's right hand."

"Scanning now, sir. Scan complete, energy signature unknown."

"Avengers, Amora has possession of something with an unknown energy signature. It's probably magical in nature." Tony really disliked that sentence. He really hated magic, it besmirched beautiful, beautiful science. Someday soon Tony would figure out how magic worked and reveal the science behind this unscientific phenomenon.

Whilst Tony was distracted with his mid-years resolution Amora flung a fiery green ball of energy at him, Tony blasted upwards barely dodging. Loki had disappeared, though from the sounds of it and the quinjet's erratic flight path to the ground, Tony suspected Loki had reappeared in the jet. Tony dived at Amora hand repulsors outstretched, he managed to nail her in the shoulder, sadly Amora also got him in the leg facilitating an unhappy reunion with the ground.

After that things got a little messy. Tony and Thor were engaging Amora; Cap, Widow and Hawkeye were playing illusionary tag with Loki and Amora's pet guard dog, Skurge, had appeared from nowhere to battle the Hulk. In the midst of being thrown through a bunch of trees by an energy blast Tony saw Loki take an explosive arrow to the face, said arrow seem to do nothing except make him very, very, angry; with a gesture of his hand Clint's bow and arrows dissolved into metal filings. Loki then promptly got a shield in the back. By this time Tony had stopped going through trees and was taking a small break in a splintery ditch of his own creation.

"Enchantress, as a citizen of Asgard thee will face Asgardian justice."

"Oh Thor, my love, soon I will make things right. It will be a paradise for the two of us, with the glory of battle and mead and shield brothers for you and no Midgard or Asgard to get in our way. We will be happy together, forever." Whenever Amora started spewing her words of undying love Tony was never sure if he should interrupt her with a missile to the face or take Thor and get him as far away as possible from the crazy bitch. The fervent way Amora spoke was disturbing to say the least. "Soon, soon. I will bear children for you, we will live isolated together, no one will come between us," as she spoke Amora clasped both her hands together and raised them above her head. The purple light increased intensity until her magic was engulfed in it.

Tony didn't know much about magic but he knew when things started to glow strange colours it was never good, Tony got out of his ditch, set his boot repulsors to 100% and tackled Amora in the side. This consequently sent them flying into Loki, knocking off his horny helmet and all of them to the ground.

"Tony!" Tony was a little disorientated so it took him a while to focus on the yellow-purple splodge above him.

"You look like shit, Barton." Tony informed the now in focus splodge. Clint opened his mouth, probably to insult him, yet was interrupted by Amora's screeching.

"You filthy, witless, mortal. How dare you interfere in my love again! I will allow no one to get in my way, never. All will disappear." Was it just Tony or were all Asgardians raving lunatics except Thor? Even Thor's friends the warriors three and Sif had seemed somewhat bonkers that one time he'd me them. Amora's magical device was no longer hidden in her hand because she was pointing it straight at him. Frankly, it was disappointing. It looked like a Mars bar that has melted slightly resulting in several chocolate free sections, it wasn't any bigger than a snack size bar either. The semi-melted bar began emitting it's purply light, Amora smiling dementedly behind it.

"Amora, stop." Surprisingly, that was Loki.

In that moment four thing happened; a beam of light ejected from the Mars bar, Tony raised his arms to his face, the Avengers moved forwards trying to stop Amora (though Tony knew they were too far away), and Loki intercepted the beam with an outstretched, glowing hand. There was a flash of light, then Tony lost consciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: A Whole New World

"Iron Man, Iron Man, Tony!"

There are several times in Tony's life where he had woken up feeling like he'd decided to guzzle five gallons of questionably sourced moonshine the previous night. Many of those instances might have very well been the results of said consumption, however those days were behind him. Sadly, even with his change in attitude he still had times where he woke feeling like shit. The person currently shouting and shaking him wasn't helping this current feeling either.

"Get up Shell-head, if you don't I'll leave you to the wilderness. Damnit, how do you get this thing off?" Someone was pulling on the suit's faceplate, Tony wanted to swat them away. He slowly opened his eyes and was greeted by sunlight and a birdy that look like it's taken a minor beating. Clint's hair was littered with the all the undergrowth of a forest, he had a dark smear on one side of his face, a shallow cut down his left brow, bruises forming along his chin and a squirrely look in his eyes. He was tugging on the faceplate whilst additionally darting his eyes left and right. Tony didn't know what had him so jumpy, when all he could see were tree canopies.

Tony tried to move but found he couldn't, further attempts to activate any suit functions revealed the suit to be dead. Which was just great, he was now a sitting metal duck for Amora or Loki to gank. Speaking of Loki, he should be close by since he was directly in front of Tony when the explosion happened. Maybe Loki'd been incinerated by the chocolate beam.

Clint's constant pulling was getting annoying, "stop scratching at my helmet bird-brain."

"Have you been ignoring me this whole time? Get up we have a situation."

"Can't. Suit's power is down, emergency release is in the left leg in the calf. Release code 843a."

A few moments after Clint disappeared from his line of vision the suit began falling to pieces. Tony lifted his armour free arm to push the chest piece off, without the rest of the armour keeping it in place the full weight was restricting his breathing.

"Okay, good, you're free. Get up."

"Whoa Merida, no bears here. What's the situation?"

"That's the situation Stark!" Clint gestured with his hand. Several feet away a certain trickster god was taking a nap on the rocky ground.

"Huh, I guess we should secure him before he wakes up." Tony said, moving to stand from the suits shelly remains.

Clint grabbed his arm roughly almost dragging him back down. "No not Loki, that!"

It took Tony a second to realise Clint was pointing at a cluster of flowers growing near Loki's head. Tony didn't see anything wrong with the flowers; they had two large orange petals framing three thinner pale-yellow petals and one darker yellow petal at the bottom, there was a small purple petal protruding from the centre.

"Are the flowers poisonous? Lets just assume Asgardians aren't affected by them, I'm not really up to moving 200 pounds of ultra-heavy alien without armour." Besides what he said Tony moved to drag Loki away from the flowers, Thor would mope for weeks if anything happened to his baby brother. Tony didn't make it very far as he was once again jerked back by Clint.

"What? I don't know if they're poisonous."

"Then what-"

"Look around genius." Tony looked around. He saw trees, trees, dirt, rock and more trees. Obviously seeing that Tony didn't get it, Clint elaborated. "Those are pine trees, the terrain is rocky, it's midday and the others are gone!"

"Huh," Now that Clint pointed it out the trees looked distinctly less leafy and more piney that those in Central Park, the ground also lacked a certain amount of grass, "and the flowers?"

"The fuck man? I'm not pointing at the flowers, watch beyond the tree line."

The woodland they were in wasn't all that dense, through the trees Tony could see a rocky plain sparsely littered with more pines. Amongst the large boulders and uneven ground there were shallow pools of water, some of which releasing steam.

"There! Did you see it?" Apparently Clint wasn't pointing at the plains either, Tony really wished Clint would just use his words. When Tony squinted he could barely make out a small dot lumbering in the distance, apparently Hawkeye had better vision.

"What is it? Skurge?"

"It's a huge fucking elephant. A huge, hairy elephant with long ass tusks."

"You mean a mammoth." Upon realising that they were stuck in an unknown location, without a working suit and no immediate signs of civilization, a feeling of dread had begun pooling in Tony's stomach. However, the mention of a live woolly mammoth promptly replaced that dread with excitement, because a relic of the ice age; that was fucking awesome. Maybe they'd been back to the futured. Tony started towards the dot in the distance. "Come on Katniss, I want a closer look."

"Are you insane? We should wait here for the others to find us."

"Chill Clint, we're not going far and Loki-Doki will guard out spot." Tony glanced back at Loki, he'd probably be fine until they got back. Besides without Clint's bow or Tony's armour there wasn't much they could do to restrain him.

Sections of the ground were hard, it looked like what Tony saw in documentaries on thousand-year old volcanic rock, the rest of the ground was dry, shifty dirt that made walking difficult especially in his undersuit. There was a frosty chill blowing in from the direction they were headed, luckily the steam vents helped to counteract the cold.

The distant dot was beginning to take on a distinct elephant appearance and as they got closer Tony noticed that it wasn't alone. Emerging from behind a tall mound was another mammoth of the same size and appearance. Clint grabbed his arm and yanked him behind a rock.

"What-? The mammoths can't see us from here." Tony complained, he wanted a closer view.

"Shhh." Clint peaked out to the left of the rocky outcrop they were hiding behind. To their left the ground slopped down steeply, at the base of the slope there was an unlit bonfire and further beyond that was a giant. Tony didn't mean a giant mammoth, but a huge BFG giant straight from Roald Dahl himself. The creature was easily three times taller than the average man, looked like Gandolf wearing a fur loincloth with dark hair and a bold patch on the top and carrying a tree sized wooden club with a stone at the end. The giant was passively observing the mammoths, kind of reminded Tony of a sheep dog watching its herd. Tony suspected they weren't in the past.

"Okay time to go." They made a hasty retreat.

On return to their tree canopies they found Loki sitting, studying the cluster of yellow flowers. Tony paused, contemplating whether he should run for his life. If Loki decided to kill them there wasn't much they could do to stop him, on the other hand Loki may be the only one who knew what the hell was going on.

Clint stiffened, then moved in front of Tony. Which was nice, not the Tony needed any protection from Clint, but it was warming and thoughtful and also completely useless against Loki.

"What have you done? Take us the fuck back. Now." Clint demanded.

"This is a dragon's tongue only found on Niflheim, it is commonly used in potions against fire and for illusion casting." Apparently, Loki was ignoring Clint and instead giving them a brief lesson in alien botany.

"We're in Niflheim? Isn't that the land of the dead? We're dead! I can't die I still need to get payback on Fury for that stupid character profile and see my coffee-toaster fool Steve and Pepper! I'm Tony Stark, the world will miss me too much."

"We are not in Niflheim."

"You just said."

Loki was giving Tony a disdainful look. "This flower is only found on Niflheim, however Niflheim is a realm of ice and mist. This cannot be Niflheim."

"So where are we then?"

"I do not see why I would assist foolish mortals. I should leave you here to rot."

"You bastard-" Tony grabbed Clint's collar before he could do anything dumb, like punch Loki.

"Then why didn't you?" Tony asked "Why not leave as soon as you woke up?"

Loki scowled at them.

"You don't know where we are." Tony really hoped that wasn't the case, because if Loki didn't know then they were more screwed than ever. "You don't know what Amora did, do you?"

"I am not some ignorant mortal," Loki scoffed, "I am aware of what Amora planned."

"Oh, yeah? Didn't seem like you were too thrilled about it."

"Even I have limits to how far I'm willing to go Barton."

"Could have fooled me."

The conversation seemed to have dissolved into a sneering match between Clint and Loki, and as interesting as that was they had other problems.

"Alright Rudolf, what was Amora planning and how did we end up here?"

Loki frowned at the nickname. "Amora wanted to create a world in which she and Thor could live without the interference of Asgard or you pesky mortals."

"So, nothing new there."

"Yes, however this time she had the means to accomplish this. The artefact she possessed held a large amount of energy able to bend the fabric of reality. She stole it from the ancient tomb of a mad sorcerer killed by Odin himself."

"Okay, magical artefact check. Why exactly were you against this?"

"Mad sorcerers are such unreliable places to acquire powerful artefacts, they often tend to have undesired consequences. When you attacked Amora, her intent changed from creating another reality to 'disappear' reality, thus I was forced to intercede."

"I hate to break it to you Rudolf but I don't think you succeeded."

"I redirected the energy into another dimension, it seems I unintentionally transported the three of us as well. It is likely that we are within the world Amora desired."

"And this is why I hate magic." Tony really didn't want to know what the enchantress fantasised about.

"Strange flowers and giants and mammoths. What other crazy messed up shit is there?" Clint was looking around like a dragon would swoop down from the sky any second.

Loki smirked at them. "I believe Amora called this world Nirn."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Morals and Humanity

Loki stood, brushing dust from his leather coat. He then began walking in the opposite direction of the mammoths.

"Where the hell are you going?" Clint demanded.

Loki grinned at them slyly. "Perhaps you wish to sit here until nightfall, be eaten by wolves. While amusing to watch, I do not have time to waste with mortals."

"Take us back, asshole."

"Hmm, no. I quite like the idea of you being eaten by wildlife."

"If you go back without us the other Avengers will find you." Clint yelled as Loki got further away.

Loki paused and scoffed at them. "Back? Back to Asgard? Midgard? If I were to return in a hundred or two hundred years Asgard will still be there for me to destroy. As for Midgard," Loki directed a false look of pity at them, "mortal lives are so very short." With that said Loki continued walking away.

"Damnit." Clint swore. Clint looked at Tony, "Amora probably still has the magic artefact; we'll have to rely on the others to find us, we just need to survive 'til then. Being in the open at night could be bad, who knows what's out here. We can look for shelter, but which way?"

Tony looked around; to one side there was the rocky plain with the mammoths and giant, to the other was a slightly denser tree line and Loki's retreating form. Tony was no nature expert but he felt their chances of finding food and civilization, if there was any, would be greater in the woods. Tony also knew the chances of encountering predators like wolves and bears was higher as well, again assuming there were any. Tony looked down at his armour, he loathed to leave it behind but it was currently a useless pile of metal. Tony looked in the direction Loki had gone, Loki had disappeared into the trees. Tony looked back at Clint.

"What do you know about nature survival?" Tony asked.

"I know mushrooms are bad and not to eat the yellow snow." Clint shrugged.

Tony nodded slowly, he had decided what to do. Tony picked up an armour gauntlet and ran after Loki.

"Where are you going." Clint was keeping up unfairly easily.

"After Reindeer Games."

"Did you hit your head on the ride over?" Clint snapped. "You just heard his big spiel on how he'd like to see us rot."

Tony figured they had two options: die from magical wildlife or die from Loki. Tony felt their chances of survival were marginally better with Loki, a Viking society probably had some wilderness training, besides Loki liked monologuing so much maybe he wouldn't kill them immediately.

Tony sighted Loki up ahead, as they got closer Loki turned; eyebrows knitted.

"H-hey Dasher," Tony was a bit out of breath, "I've decided to grace you with my magnificent self. Keep you company on this new journey." Tony smiled winningly.

Loki had the expression someone might make when they found something unpleasant stuck to the bottom of their shoe.

"Come on Blitzen. If we tag along with you, you might get to see us eaten by wolves." Tony reasoned.

"Cease your prattling Stark, or I will kill you myself." Loki continued walking.

Tony grinned, he counted that as a victory.

Clint apparently didn't, he grabbed Tony's shoulder and hissed in his ear. "What the fuck? You want to travel with him!"

"Neither of us know anything about nature survival," Tony whispered back, "if we go alone we're sitting ducks."

"We're sitting ducks if we stay with him as well, at least nature doesn't have a vendetta against us." Clint kind of had a point, but Tony refused to be deterred.

"Maybe Loki will have a change of heart and send us back." Even Tony knew that was improbable.

"That is exceedingly unlikely." Loki informed them, evidently he could hear them.

"Eavesdropping is impolite Blitzen."

Loki ignored him, which Tony though was rude and uncalled for. They walked in silence; Loki leading the way, Clint staring holes into Loki's back, and Tony keeping quiet, trying to enjoy nature or something. The silence lasted all of five minutes.

"Where are we going?" Tony questioned.

"Toward civilization." Loki replied blankly.

"How do you know that?" Tony peered around Loki to see if there were any settlement up ahead, there was nothing but trees, rocks and the beginnings of grass.

"The tracks."

Tony and Clint looked at the ground except there were no distinguishable footprint besides their own.

"What tracks?" Loki didn't not reply and they fell into silence again. As they walked the trees changed from pine needles to a leafier variety, bushes and grass became more common and the ground turned to compact dirt. They were trekking up a soft incline, occasionally needing to climb over large boulder or fallen trees. They had been walking for a few hours when Loki paused.

Tony opened his mouth to asked what was wrong.

"Quiet." Loki snapped. Loki snuck towards the trees on his left, Tony wondered how he moved so quietly with all the leather and metal. Clint followed at a cautious distance and Tony followed after. When Tony and Clint caught up, Loki was gazing at a group of people from behind a fallen tree trunk. The people were sitting in front of a shallow cave only a few feet deep. There were four of them: three men and one woman, they had weapons and wore armour varying from full metal plating to leather and fur. They were sitting around a fire with a pot hanging over it, fur sleeping bags behind them and several chests and sacks in the cave. Tony pondered how Loki had heard them from so far away, maybe he had super hearing.

Clint started rising from his crouching position.

"What are you doing?" Tony hissed, trying to pull him back down.

"They could help us find the nearest settlement."

Tony didn't think it was a bad idea, it just felt wrong to announce themselves after all the effort they exerted to sneak here. Tony glanced at Loki, who was smiling vaguely at something. Clint and Tony rose from their hiding spot and approached the campsite. They barely made it three feet before they were spotted.

"Now ain't this a surprise." One of the men jeered. The armoured campers drew their weapons: a bow, mace, one-handed sword and a two-handed sword. Tony realised they'd made a mistake, next to him Clint moved into a fighting stance. There was a rustling behind him and Tony looked back to see Loki had stood and was casually straightening his coat.

"Surrender your stuff and run."

With that their only warning the archer released an arrow, it flew passed Tony's head, causing him to drop his gauntlet in surprise. The arrow was aimed at Loki, Loki nonchalantly grabbed the arrow from the air, grinning broadly. He strolled towards the closest camper; the woman with the one-handed sword. "I think you will find it is I who will be taking your belongings."

The campers charged. The woman struck at Loki; before Tony even processed what happened she was one the ground, an arrow in her neck and her sword in Loki's hand. The man with the mace fell just a quickly. Clint had used the commotion to get in close to the archer and they were engaged in hand to hand combat.

Tony as about to assist Clint when he saw something flying towards him from the corner of his eye. Ducking instinctually, the large sword grazed over his head. Tony jumped backwards as the sword had another go at him, unfortunately he tripped on a stick doing so and ended up on his backside. The camper with his two-handed sword bore down on him. Tony scrambled back, looked around for a weapon. To his right Clint was still beating on the archer and Loki was complacently poking through the sacks in the cave. The camper brought his sword up and as he swung it down Tony flung a fistful of dirt and rolled to the side. The angry camper roared and Tony heard the sword impact dirt near his head. The sword had another go at him, Tony rolled against. The sword was once again poised to strike, Tony was internally drafting his eulogy when the angry camper howled in pain. Clint had finally bested the archer and had shot the angry camper in the knee. It was an impressive shot, hitting him between the plate in his armour.

Another arrow flew and knocked the sword from the camper's hand. Tony quickly dragged it away, well he tried; the thing weighed a ton. By the time Tony had dragged it a safe distance and got over the fact he almost died Clint had bound and gagged Tony's attacker and the archer with rope, and Loki was adding something to the pot over the fire. The two men struggled for a short while but gave up fairly quickly.

Tony walked over to the two people Loki had killed. The woman appeared to be early 30, she had a hard face, probably had to when you were living in a medieval society. The man had blond, short cut facial hair and red face paint around his eyes, yet that didn't hide how very young he was. Tony deliberated on what could had forced them into a life of killing and looting.

"You didn't have to kill them." Tony muttered.

"They were planning to kill us." Loki didn't look up from scooping the pots content into a wooden bowl he'd found.

"That doesn't mean you had to kill them." Clint snarled. "A decent person would have spared them if they could. That's the difference between you and the rest of us, you're a murdering, bastard with no conscious."

Loki raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "And what, pray tell, will you do now that you have them alive. They are, as you say, murderers without a conscience as well." Loki then commenced eating, what Tony now realised was stew, from his bowl.

"Everyone has their reasons, that doesn't make it right but sometimes when you're desperate there's no other choice." Tony pronounced.

"Then lucky for my conscience they were unconscionable killers after nothing but wealth." Loki uttered carelessly.

Tony balled his hands into fists, Loki's disregard of life and anyone but himself was sickening. Tony knew Loki felt no remorse for those he killed, yet it was so much worse hearing it confirmed so heedlessly.

Tony pointed to the man Loki had killed, no more than 20 years old. "You don't know why he was here. You don't know if he had a family he was providing for, if they miss him or even able to survive without him. Not everyone's a spoilt prince who's only problem is daddy didn't love him enough." Loki glared at Tony through two slitted eyes, Tony knew he was about to die so he kept talking. "We don't know if he deserved to die, but he might have deserved to live."

After Tony finished speaking a sharp grin gradually stretched across Loki's face, the sight sent shivers down Tony's spine. It screamed chaos and insanity. Loki reached behind him, Tony's heart speed up and he heard Clint notch an arrow. Loki threw something a Tony's feet.

"Tell me Stark, do you still believe he deserved to live?" Loki, still grinning.

The item Loki had thrown was a tunic, the colour and frills on the hem suggested it was a female's tunic. The tunic had a blood stain on it. A lump formed in Tony's throat and he turned away feeling nauseous. The location of the stain and the small size of the tunic was the horrid part.

Loki took two long strides towards Tony. "Tell me Stark, does your feeble morality apply to monsters and beasts?"

Tony couldn't speak, he looked at the tunic and thought about who it belonged to.

"Move away from him Loki." Clint was pointing his bow at Loki.

Loki stepped back, smirking. "Do not attempt to lecture me on morality, I have seen civilizations rise and fall. Morals only exists to the benefit of oneself." Loki turned dismissively, back to looking through the cave items.

"You alright man?" Clint laid a hand on Tony's shoulder. "Don't listen to that freak, he's just messing with you. Even if Loki's right about that guy, we can't let that stop us from sparing other. If we don't try then no one gets saved."

Tony shook his head and took several deep breaths. He looked down at the tunic again, then at Clint. "I didn't know you were such a philosophical guy, Bruce would be jealous." Tony quipped weakly.

Clint snorted and punched Tony in the shoulder. "Tell anyone and I'll spill about your coffee-toaster."

"You heartless traitor." Tony gasped playfully.

"If you are quite done." Loki's voice shattered the moment. "If you plan to continue following me I suggest you eat quickly and pack what you need." Loki had placed several items on a fur sleeping bag and was rolling it up, using it as a makeshift bag.

As loath as Tony was to admit it, Loki was still their best chance at survival. Even though he hadn't done anything to save Tony, without Loki they couldn't have taken the four attackers alone.

"The sun is setting; shouldn't we stay here for the night?" Tony was uncomfortable with the thought of sleeping in this place but walking in the dark was inadvisable.

Loki surveyed the sun sinking below the trees. "There is at least an hour of sunlight yet. If you wish to stay here and wait for the bodies to attract predators by all means, if not I leave in 10 minutes."

Clint walked toward the cave stash and Tony followed. Most of the items were food, animal fur and some raw ores. Tony placed his gauntlet, some apples, bread, rope and a bottle of what he hoped was water onto a sleeping bag. Tony also found a small drawstring bag with several gold coins in it, he assumed they were currency and added it to his pile.

"I suggest changing clothing to avoid drawing attention." Loki said.

Tony scowled at Loki. "You're not exactly inconspicuous with all the gold."

Loki had gone hard of hearing again and didn't reply. Tony search through the sacks for clothing, he eventually found a mostly white, long sleeve tunic and dark, leather trousers. Tony stripped off his undersuit, threw it on his sleeping bag pile, and put on the tunic and trousers. Tony had even found a pair of knee high boots that sort of fit and a belt to wrap around his waist so the tunic wasn't as baggy. Tony was just about to roll up his bag when he spotted a small bottle near a sack, the content looked like pink rock salt except when Tony shook it it glowed like embers. It was interesting so he added it to the pile. Tony stood with his make shift bag and saw that Clint was already packed, he was standing by the fire eating stew.

Clint had found himself fur clothing, it looked like it's previous owner was a wolf or bear, and it even came complete with a pair of fuzzy boots. The wooden bow Clint had taken was slung over his shoulder and he had a quiver of arrows strapped to his back. Even Loki had changed a little, he'd discarded his long black coat and most of the gold pieces of his armour. Loki's green cape was wrapped around his shoulders and fastened under his chin, now it was more like a cloak than a cape. He also had a sword sheathed at his side.

Tony grabbed a bowl of stew from the pot and took a wary bite. It tasted like watered down beef stew, still it wasn't bad and Tony had had a long day. After inhaling three bowls Tony was ready to set off, there was just one problem.

"What are we going to do with them?" Tony gesture to the two restrained men.

"Bring them with us." Clint said, at the same time Loki said, "kill them."

"You won't keep up with me." Loki said distastefully. "Kill them, leave them or free them. They will only be a burden if you drag them along."

"We are not leaving them to die, and we're not going to let them hurt anyone else." Clint answered stiffly. "They are coming with us."

Loki didn't argue. Clint and Tony dragged the two men between them, hands bound and feet restricted. Loki was right about not keeping up and he didn't bother waiting. Only a few minutes in, he was far ahead of them and with the fading sunlight he was getting harder and harder to see.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: No Biting Needed

The sun had set half an hour ago, yet they could still see via the light of the moon; or moons. Nirn had two massive, silver moons in the sky. The moons illuminated the surrounding area, casting long, black shadows on the woods. The shadows made Tony nervous, he wasn't a superstitious person, there was just something immensely unsettling about the depths of the shadows the moon cast. They were trudging up an incline, in what Tony thought was a straight line. Tony and Clint had lost sight of Loki 30 minutes ago and after deliberating had decided to continue moving forward instead of returning to the campsite.

The two captives weren't causing any fuss and the walk was quiet. Tony was eying a bush doubtful when Clint increased his pace. Clint had noticed a crude, cobblestone road through the trees. The road gently wound up an incline in a wavy pattern, it looked well used and Clint grinned at Tony in victory.

Since down the slope was the way they had come, they decided to travel up the hill. After an hour of travelling the road, they finally found signs of civilization. A simple wooden tower was standing to the right of the road, there was a firepit and two people in armour out the front. The people were both wearing metal helmets that covered their faces and purple fabric over their armour, the fabric wrapped around their shoulders, passed diagonally across the chest and ended an inch above the right knee. One of them was carrying a round shield with the same emblem as the towers banners; two swords with blades crossed. The strategic position of the tower, the purple banner and matching outfits suggested it was a guard tower, Tony just hoped law enforcement was friendly.

"Everything all right?" The one without the shield asked, by the sound of their voice Tony guessed they were male.

"Hi." Tony gave a little wave to show he was friendly.

"Bit late to be wandering around, isn't it?" The same guard asked, he didn't sound suspicious so Tony figured things were okay.

Tony scratched his neck sheepishly. "Yeah, we were wandering and got a bit lost in the wood. We were hoping you could tell us where we are."

"New to the Rift, eh? That road" The guard pointed the way they came, "leads from Eastmarch into the Rift. This is Shor's watchtower, about a days journey north of Riften." The guard turned his head towards Clint and their two captives. "It's fortunate for us you wandered through these parts, caught the bandits steeling from the mine down the road."

Two other guards moved forward to grab the captives, one must have exited the tower when Tony wasn't looking. "We'll transport them to Riften jail with the next patrol." The captives were promptly marched inside.

"Can you tell us about this place?" Clint asked the guard.

"About the Rift?"

"Ahh... sure and everything else, like… the continent." Tony was pretty sure the guard was staring at them as if they were idiots.

"Just how long were you lost? Are you from Morrowind, Cyrodiil?" When no answer came the guard continued. "This is Skyrim, land of the Nords. The Rift is in the southeast corner of Skyrim, the capital of the Rift is Riften. If you plan to stay in Skyrim I suggest you avoid the roads at night; we currently have a vampire problem. Also avoid any stronghold, like fort Greenwall which is on the road to Riften, as a civil war is ongoing between the Empire and the Stormcloaks. In addition to the vampire and the civil war there are also rumours of dragon sightings, some fellow guards even say there was a dragon attack on Helgen and near Whiterun." The guard shook his head in wonderment. "You have come to Skyrim at an unfortunate time travellers."

"Wow, dragons, that's really something." Tony feigned shock, it not that Tony wasn't surprised; he'd merely had an eventful day and wanted to rest. "You wouldn't know a nearby place we could rest to avoid all that trouble."

"The closest place with an inn is Riften although that's almost a days travel away. Shor's Stone is a short distance, there are no inns but one of the miners may offer you a bed to sleep, if not there's a fire near the mine that will keep you warm. The guard patrols make the area safe enough. Just head down the road and stay on the paved path."

Clint thanked the guard for his assistance.

"Watch the skies, travellers." The guard offered in farewell.

The road to Shor's Stone was uneventful. Shor's Stone consisted of three small houses and a cave entrance Tony assumed was the mine. The place was barely 50 feet wide, the cobble road running straight through the town. The only people awake were two guards, one at the mine entrance and another patrolling the road, and an older man shovelling coal into a metal dome-shaped contraption. Clint and Tony approached the man.

"Hi." Tony greeted, doing his little wavy again.

"What do you want, traveller? I've no time to waste talking." The man snapped. The man threw a chunk of rock into a hole in the dome contraption, consequently Tony realised the dome was a smelter.

"We were looking for a place to stay the night." Clint explained.

"No inns here, go to Riften for lodgings." The man said distractedly, he then tossed his shovel to Clint. "Help me stock the coals would you."

"I'm not here to-" Clint objected, except the man wasn't listening. He'd picked up another chunk of ore to add to the molten mixture.

"I still have the sword hilt to craft, you" the man indicated to Tony, "add the ore when the previous piece has melted." Ergo, the man spun around and entered one of the houses in front of the mine entrance. He exited a few minutes later and began hammering at a workbench to the side of his house.

Clint shrugged and started shovelling coal. Tony figured it was best to appease the locals and added the ore at the appropriate intervals. A while later the man, blacksmith, returned; he threw two cushion-sized drawstring bags at Clint and Tony. Inside the bags was some sort of dried meat, 10 gold coins each and a bottle with red liquid inside, the label read 'cure disease'.

"For your help." he explained. "You are welcome to use the fire for the night." The man returned to his work.

Clint and Tony rolled out their sleeping furs and transported the items inside to their drawstring bags. They had a minimalistic dinner of apples, dried meat and bread.

"This sucks." Clint complained, taking a vicious bite of his bread. "Trapped in a medieval world with vampires and dragons and giants and itchy fur! I'm missing the season finale of 'modern family'. I'm passing the next mission with magic involved, the team can go without me."

"And here I though you adored spending quality time with me." Tony placed his hand over his heart in mock pain. "What happened to the love?"

"You wish Shellhead." Clint smiled. "Any other member of the team would have been better, at least they wouldn't complain every five minutes about how: their feet hurt, they were thirsty, oh the sun and so on."

Tony was offended, he did not complain that much. Okay, he'd complained a few times but nature was against him.

"I'm certain that's why Loki left, he couldn't stand your moaning."

"Nonsense, Rudolf loves my voice." Tony was sure everyone enjoyed hearing him talk.

Clint snorted. "Hey, I'm not saying that's a bad thing. He was an eyesore anyway and we didn't even need him, tomorrow we can set off to Riften and bunk at an inn until the other Avengers arrive."

Tony had no disagreements with Clint's plan.

They decided to take shifts sleeping, even though there were the two guards and the blacksmith still working, it was more comfortable if one of them stayed on lookout. Clint was on first shift by losing two rounds of rock, paper, scissors. Tony lay down in his fur sleeping bag, the twin moons and stars above him. One benefit of this world was the lack of light pollution, Tony had never seen a night sky as brilliant as Skyrim's. Tony drifted to sleep thinking that Pepper would appreciate the beauty of it all.

Clint woke Tony a few hour later to swap shifts. Tony spent 15 minutes starring at shadows and craving coffee before he got restless. He wandered up and down the road, to the entrance of the mine and around the smelter. The smelter had cooled down by this time, however the blacksmith was still working in the small porch attached to his house. Tony ambled closer to the smith. As well as a steel workbench, the porch also contained a wooden bench piled with tools and raw metals, a tanning rack, a grind stone and a forge. The blacksmith was shaping a black sword at the forge; at intervals heating the metal, shaping it with a hammer and cooling it in a water trough.

"This is ebony metal, holds an edge better than steel and more valuable that its weight in gold." The smith's voice startled Tony, he hadn't though he'd been noticed.

"Is that metal from the mine?" Tony inquired.

"Indeed it is."

Tony gazed around at the three small houses. "Why doesn't the mine attract more people?"

The smith sighed at Tony's question. "The civil war takes its toll on the mines, the ore is the cost for the mines protection." The smith inclined his head in the direction of one of the guards. "Not long ago we also had a frostbite spider problem."

"Frostbite spider?" Tony didn't think spiders could scare off hardy miners.

"You're not from around here, are you? Frostbite spiders are fairly common in Skyrim, you'd generally find them in caves and dense forests. Fully grown, they're about four feet wide and spit poison that can paralyse a grown man. We used to have an infestation, fortunately an adventurer moving through the area rid us of that problem." The smith dunked the metal in water a final time and transferred it to the workbench.

"Huh, giant spiders." Tony muttered. "The craziest I've faced is wormholes, magic, gods, metal robots and fire breathing people."

The smith blinked at Tony. "What is it that you do?"

"Oh," Tony waved his hand vaguely, "help people and create things."

"A smith then? What kind?" The blacksmith was attaching the leather grip to the sword.

"I make armour and weapons, just stuff with metal." Tony replied uncertainly.

"A travelling metalsmith? A metalsmith cannot create without his forge."

"I'm taking a break, to see the world."

"Extending knowledge of your trade," the blacksmith nodded in understanding, "Eorlund Grey-Mane in Whiterun is arguably the best blacksmith in Skyrim. In Riften, Balimund is also a fine blacksmith, I assume you and your companion are headed their next?"

"Yep."

"A word of advice, do not cross the Black-Briar family, they have great influence in Riften. Also avoid fort Greenwall, leave Shor's Stone the way you came and take the dirt path a brief ways down. The path will take you around the fort."

Tony observed the smith until he completed his sword, Tony thanked him of the advice and wished him a good night. Tony returned to his sleeping bag and sat down, he knew the next few hours until dawn would be long.

Tony was unsure how long had passed, he was drawing a teddy bear in the dirt when the guard patrolling the road stopped.

"You hear that?" The guard spoke anxiously. "I swear, there's something out there. In the dark."

Tony strained his ears, there was a faint thudding sound that was gradually becoming louder. Tony jumped to his feet and kicked Clint in the leg. The guard drew his sword. The thudding turned into the sound of many running feet and a figure broke through the tree line above the cave entrance. In the moon light the face of the figure was ashen and gaunt, skin stretched over the jaw in a permanent snarl. The figure was humanoid with red, luminescent eyes; it leapt down from above the cave onto the guard below. The guard released a startled yell, although before the guard could be harmed the figure was shot with an arrow. Then the rest of them came.

A cry of 'vampires' went up by the guards, the vampire hoard advancing on them. It seemed to Tony that not all the hoard were vampires, there were several people in crimson-brown armour chasing after the vamps. They fought with swords and some had crossbows. The house residence were also waking, some assisting the guards to kill the vampires. Clint had also risen to help prevent the residence from being blood sucked.

Tony was wishing he had a weapon, when he was spotted by a vamp that'd broken free of the main group. Tony did the most sensible thing and ran. He ran into the woods surrounding the town, the vamp right behind him. The vampire was fast, it apparently also had magical powers; when Tony stumbled on a root a spear of ice shot past him, shattering against rock. It was only a few minutes before the vampire was on him, he was pinned to the ground with the vamp on his back.

Struggling turned out to be useless, the vampire was a lot stronger than him. The vampire didn't kill Tony immediately, it seemed to be passing time cackling evilly. Typical villain style.

"Oh, I can smell your blood, little one." The vamp whispered. Tony was deeply offended by the vamp's comment, Tony wasn't that little.

"Hey Dracular, hands off." Tony continued struggling. "You can't afford my blood."

The vamp hummed amusedly. "The night eternal awaits you, little mortal."

Tony felt a strange sensation come over him, like his energy was being sucked from his body. In his peripheral Tony could see red mist being absorbed by the vampire. Deliriously Tony speculated about the biting he'd been promised? Instead he got some cheap, B-grade blood absorption ability for his first vampire experience, he felt cheated.

Just as Tony was seeing spots in his vision the vampires weight was gone from his back. He heard the vampire release a cry and was silence with a thud. Tony blinked the spots from his eyes and slowly rolled over, there was a guard standing over the prone vampire. The body gradually dissolved into black powder.

"Are you alright, traveller?" The guard inquired.

"Ah… yeah, thanks for the save." Tony was still feeling lethargic but besides that he was fine.

"I suggest you acquire a potion of 'cure disease' or visit a shire soon, wouldn't was to have another vampire on our hands." The guard helped Tony up and they started walking back to the town.

"You mean I caught vampirism from that weird drainy thing?"

"It's possible," the guard nodded, "better to stop it now before it's too late."

When they arrived back in the town the vampires and people with crossbows were gone. There were three residence and the other guard inspecting two piles of vampire dust, Tony scanned the area for Clint and didn't see him.

"Your companion chased after you when you ran into the woods," the guard said when he noticed Tony looking, "must have not of reached you because the rest of the vampires and Dawnguard followed after. They should return once the vampires are slain."

Tony swallowed. "Dawnguard?"

"They're vampire hunters, reformed from the second era due to the increasing vampire menace."

Tony nodded and ambled towards his belongings. Digging through his bag he found the bottle the blacksmith had given him, it read 'cure disease' and it looked potiony enough to Tony. He removed the cork and sniffed. It smelt like the fuzzy mould that grows on bread, not wanting to thing about the dubiousness of drinking strange liquids Tony downed it in one go; and almost spat it back out. It tasted like Kool-Aid concentrated times 10, the vast difference between smell and taste making him gag. Tony chased the potion down with some water, then sat and waited for Clint's return.

When dawn came around, Clint or the Dawnguard hadn't returned. Tony was pacing up and down the road when he was interrupted by the blacksmith.

"If you're doing nothing all day, you might as well help me smelt this ore." Tony welcomed the distraction and assisted in shovelling coal into the smelter.

By midday Tony was becoming genuinely concerned, he thought about going out to look but in all likelihood Tony'd just get lost and eaten.

"Shouldn't the Dawnguard be back by now?" Tony asked the smith.

"I'd assume so; however, they may not return here if one of their own were injured."

"Where would they go?"

"Back to their base I'd assume, though I don't know where that is. If you're looking to find them, your best chance in one of the capitals. They visit ever couple weeks to recruit members, also might be someone there who knows something."

Tony contemplated traveling to Riften on his own, his chances weren't good especially without a weapon to defend himself. The blacksmith had also noted Tony's lack of weaponry because he offered him a deal.

"I have a sword I'm gifting to a friend in Riften, if you deliver it I'll provide a weapon for your protection."

Tony accepted the deal, he'd set off for Riften tomorrow morning. Tony aided the blacksmith and other miners for the rest of the day. One of the miners provided him with vegetable soup and fresh bread for dinner as compensation. Tony slept restlessly that night and by daybreak Clint hadn't returned.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Tony Alone

Filnjar the blacksmith, who's name Tony only through to ask as he was leaving, gave Tony the black sword he'd been working on the night they'd arrived in Shor's Stone. The sword was thin and leaf shaped, it had a curved blade that ended in a wicked point. There was no guard between the hilt and the blade, resulting in one long, deadly spear of metal. Tony had never though much about swords before, he had lasers and missiles and repulsors to take down the bad guys, but he had to admit this sword was pretty cool. The sword was wrapped in leather and rope and attached diagonally across Tony's back. A note came with the sword, addressed to Mjoll the Lioness, who Tony would reportedly find in the Riften marketplace during the day.

Filnjar, like promised, also provided Tony with a 'basic' iron sword and leather sheath, which were apparently the generic design provided for common soldiers and guards. After a minor struggle with the sheath Tony managed to attach the sword to his left hip. He rolled up his sleeping bag and transferred the potion of 'cure disease' and gold coins from Clint's draw string bag to his own and strapped it to his back alongside the ebony sword.

Following Filnjar's advice Tony retraced his steps on the road leading to Shor's Stone and walked down the dirt track a short way down. The path was clear and well-travelled hence easy to follow. Tony didn't consider himself weak or unfit, it took muscle to manoeuvre the Iron Man suit even with all the mechanical help, but the swords were seriously heavy and Tony had to stop to rest a few times. It was a good thing the only animal Tony had encountered was a fox that scurried away as soon as it spotted him, he wasn't sure he'd be able to fight with the sword.

The trees had changed from green and brown to an autumn appearance; most of the trees bore orange and yellow leaves with ash white trunks. The sun shone through the foliage bathing his surroundings with a warm glow. To his left, in the far distance Tony could see a large mountain range that touched the clouds and there was a light breeze that kept him cool on his walk. Needless to say, by midday Tony was thoroughly sick of nature and longed for his tower with air filtration, air conditioning and tinted windows. Tony had been trekking this winding path for hours and he was tired and bored.

Several hour after the sun had passed the highest point of its journey across the sky, Tony came across a fork in the road. A wider dirt track split off to the right of Tony's dirt track. Tony stood there for a number of minutes contemplating which way; he had just decided to take his chances and spin a stick when he heard a roar. Tony was no nature expert but he knew a bear when he heard it, he squinted down the track to his right and he could vaguely see a brown mass behind some rocks. Not wanting to tangle with a bear, Tony hurried along the path to the left.

It was a fortunate thing too, because not long after the path re-joined the cobble road, and approximately two hours later Tony spotted three guard towers. The towers were much the same as the one near Shor's Stone, lining both sides of the road. There were seven guards outside the towers or patrolling the road yet they gave Tony no trouble. Past the towers were stone walls that encompassed a large area, Tony assumed this was Riften. There was a heavy wooden double door, a good 10 feet wide, with two guards stationed in front. To the left of the door was a wooden house and an open horse stable with two white-spotted horses relaxing inside. Behind the stables and running under part of Riften was a river, there were a few wooden docks and buildings above the water jutting out from the city walls.

Tony approached the guards.

"Hold there." The guard straightened from his slouching position against the wall, "Before I let you into Riften, you need to pay the visitor's tax."

Tony frowned, he hadn't been told about a visitor's tax. "How much?" Tony asked.

"211 Septims."

If Septims were the gold coins Tony'd been collecting then he didn't have enough, Tony hadn't counted but he doubted he even had 50. Tony informed the guard of this.

The guard looked at his fellow guard, "fortunately for you traveller, I'm a generous man. I will allow you through for your 50 Septims."

The guard's little speech made Tony immediately suspicious. It was one thing to reduce the value out of kindness, another to reduce it over four times the original amount, especially for a stranger. Tony didn't know what kind of punishment a guard could get for disobeying orders but he could assume in a medieval society it was something outrageously disproportional to the crime.

"I never heard of a visitor's tax on Riften." Tony said.

"The rules have changed, Jarl Laila Law-Giver has imposed it recently." The guard uttered stiffly.

"Uh-huh, and if I asked the people at the stable they'd confirm the existence of this tax?" Tony inquired sceptically.

The guard put his hands up in the universal 'stop' gesture. "Alright, alright, keep your voice down. I'll open the gates."

Tony was allowed entry to Riften with no further problems. His first impression of Riften wasn't very flattering, the place was grey stone and filthy wood. It reminded Tony of the seedier streets of New York, where crime ran rampant and the police turned a blind eye. Most of the buildings were old wood, the walkway stone or wooden boards. The river did indeed run through Riften, the artificially altered water canal was about 6 feet wide and ran under the west wall of the city in a U-shape.

Riften had two levels; at a cursory glance the upper level contained the majority of the city, with the marketplace, stores, inns and some large two-story structures. The river a level below separated the stalls and inns from what Tony assumed were residential buildings, with three wooden bridges connecting the areas. The lower level was accessed via wooden stairs, it was level with the water and had wooden walkways on either side of the canal. There were doors at intervals along the walkways and unstable, boards permitting passage across the water.

Tony crosses a bridge and walked towards the marketplace. The market had four small stalls, only three feet wide, in a circle around a weathered well house. Tony stopped and stared at one of the stall owners, he blinked and rubbed his eyes then kept staring. Like in most marketplaces the owner was shouting about his merchandise, trying to attract customers.

"Beautiful baubles and gleaming gemstones over here! Jewellery with legendary Argonian craftsmanship!"

There was nothing odd about that, what was strikingly bizarre was that the owner was a lizard. An actual humanoid lizard with a snout and green scales and pointed teeth, a long scaly tail and round forward-facing eyes with slitted pupils. Tony glanced around to see if anyone found the lizard stall owner strange; no one was paying attention, all focused on their own tasks.

Tony took a closer look at the other people in the marketplace and noticed that two of the other stall owners looked strange, not lizard strange but not quite human either. Their skin was an unnatural grey and they had marked pointy ears. When one of the sellers turned in Tony's direction he noted that her eyes were completely black, no whites at all. If Tony were to guess he'd say they were elves, they matched the vague description Thor had given on the elven races; then again who knew if that applied to Amora's new world.

Tony approached the more human looking stall owner. She had a random assortment of armour displayed on the counter of her stall and she was shouting at the few people milling around the market. "Protect yourself right... buy armour from Grelka." "Buy some armour and live to tell about it!" When Grelka noticed Tony watching she scowled fiercely.

"You going to buy something or just here for training? Otherwise, move on." Tony thought the dismissive tone was counterproductive to running a business, but what would Tony know he was a jackass all the time and Stark Industries was very, very successful.

"I'm just looking for the Dawnguard." Tony said cautiously.

"Not here," Grelka snapped. "You gonna buy some armour, or what?"

Tony smiled in spite of Grelka's scathing attitude. "Sure, what have you got on offer?"

Grelka began listing items and dumping several daggers and swords on the counter for Tony to inspect. "I can sell you light armour, light armour training and one-handed weapons."

Tony picked up a dagger. "Have you been selling in Riften for long?"

"Long enough. The sooner I get out of Skyrim the better."

"Why is that?" Tony picked up another dagger.

"Are you serious? The war is tearing the land apart, the dragons have returned seeking who knows what, vampires and werewolves plague the nights, the dark brotherhood and the thieves' guild have increased in strength and influence. Skyrim is going nowhere fast. If I were you, I'd pack up and get out of here before you end up in one of those burial cairns."

"Who are the dark brotherhood and the thieves' guild?" Tony picked up a gold helmet.

"The dark brotherhood are assassins for hire, don't know much about them; don't want to. The thieves' guild infests the Ratway, ruined sewer tunnels beneath the city, they'll stop at nothing to take your last bit of food if that's all you had. The Ratway's too good for that scum. What's worse is that both the guild and brotherhood are rumoured to have connections with Maven Black-Briar, if I were you I'd keep my head down."

Tony frowned at the helmet he was holding. "If the thieves' guild are just under the city surely the Jarl would have the guards arrest them."

Grelka snorted derisively. "Jarl Laila is a mere figure head, everyone know that the Black-Briars run Riften. The only one who attempts to interrupt the corruption is Mjoll, an adventurer who is trying to help the people of Riften." Grelka said this as if she though the idea was absurd.

Tony perks up at Mjoll's name. "Where is Mjoll now?"

Grelka motioned impatiently to an armoured, blond woman at the edge of the marketplace. "Are you going to buy that, if not get lost." Evidently Grelka wouldn't be answering any more of Tony's questions. Tony bought an iron dagger for 10 septims and then went to speak to Mjoll.

Mjoll was standing by the wooden railing gazing down at the canal a level below. She was a tall, muscled woman; there was a large battle axe, almost Tony's height, strapped to her back and she gave Tony the impression that she could and would use it very effectively. The grey face paint and full body armour plating helped to strengthen that image.

"Hello," Tony greeted. "You Mjoll? I have a delivery from Filnjar."

"Indeed I am. What could Filnjar possibly have for me? I have no contracts with the smith."

Tony handed the leather wrapped sword over.

"A thanks for my assistance." Mjoll muttered as she read the attached note. "I am glad to hear my help is wanted."

"Why wouldn't your help be wanted? I heard you were trying to clean the city up."

Mjoll inspected the ebony blade. "Too many people in Riften are willing to ignore what is wrong, to not care as long as it does not immediately affect them. Look where it gets them, they must understand that anything happening in this city affects them all. It's a shame, I alone am not enough to help this city… it has to want to help itself first."

Despite her words Mjoll spoke resolutely; her back straight, shoulders squared and not an ounce of despondence in her voice. Tony had to admire her resolve to help others, in a way Mjoll reminded him of Steve. Fearless in the face of adversary.

"Filnjar appreciated your help," Tony smiled, "so whatever you're doing is helping people. I don't know how long I'll be in Riften and I'm not much of a fighter, but I'll be happy to help with anything else."

"You know, I'm beginning to respect you. Other than Aerin, you seem to be the only other person I've met I might be able to trust. Since we share the same opinion let me warn you to stay away from the Ratway down by the canal, the thieves guild are the worst kind. If you hear of their activity let me know and I will deal with it." Mjoll moved closer and lowered her voice. "And the same goes for the Black-Briars, though I will understand if you do not. Please be cautious if you come across them, I don't wish to be the reason for your death."

"Of course." Tony nodded. "One other thing, do you know anything about the Dawnguard?"

Mjoll shook her head. "I am sorry my friend, I know little of them. They are vampire hunters and they recruit members by visiting the capital cities."

"Do they have a schedule?"

"If they do it alludes me. The Dawnguard have visited Riften several times, but it seems to be random. Sometimes weeks or months elapse between visits."

Tony held back a sigh. What kind of organisation didn't have a regular recruiting schedule? How were future members supposed to find them?

Mjoll appears to notice Tony's frustration. "The Jarl may have further information. She resides in Mistveil Keep." Mjoll indicated to a large castle-like structure across the canal, with guards stationed in front.

Tony said his goodbyes to Mjoll and went to speak to the Jarl. Mistveil Keep was the only building on the upper level made of stone. A stone staircase lead up to large double doors, there were two guards standing on either side of the doors, however they let Tony past without comment. The doors opened into a spacious banquet hall; a fire pit in the centre and tables arranged around it. To Tony's left there was a door that lead into another room and at the back of the hall were several steps. On the raised area sat a throne, and another pair of doors behind said throne. A middle-aged woman sat on the throne.

Even thought there were several guards stationed around the room, none of them tried to stop Tony as he approached the Jarl. Tony thought that was really horrible guarding, especially since he was obviously carrying a sword. Tony speculated on how the Jarl hadn't been assassinated yet since evidently anyone was allowed to walk right through the hall, then again from what Tony'd heard about the Black-Briar family maybe the Jarl wasn't worth assassinating.

Tony was able to speak to Jarl Laila Law-Giver directly. From what little Tony had hear from Grelka about the Jarl of Riften he had gotten the impression that Jarl Laila knew very little about her city or she just didn't care. As Tony spoke to Laila Law-Giver the former impression was confirmed.

The Jarl had no new information to provide on the Dawnguard and when questioned about the Thieves Guild she didn't seem to think they were a problem. Tony had begun to ask about the Black-Briar family when he was interrupted by an elf-like individual; except she differed from the two stall owner Tony had previously seen as her skin was a dark olive and her eyes were red with black pupils. She introduced herself as Anuriel the Jarl's steward. Anuriel promptly informed Tony that the Bee and Barb inn had lodgings and food for travellers, Tony was quickly dismissed and he got the feeling that Anuriel didn't want Tony mentioning Riften's problems to the Jarl.

When Tony exited Mistveil Keep the sun had already set and the marketplace was empty. Tony had seen the sign to the Bee and Barb next to the marketplace. The Bee and Barb was still bustling with customers, small square tables and benches littered the floor. There was a counter in a corner with another lizard person behind it, Tony asked about food and a room; he paid up front and was shown upstairs to his room for the night by another lizard person.

The room consisted of a single bed made of straw and an animals pelt, a wooden chair and a wooden chest. Tony sat on the chair and dejectedly ate the cabbage potato stew he'd bought from the lizard innkeeper. Tony wasn't sure what to do next, his options boiled down to: go around asking about the Dawnguard or just wait and hope for the best. Of course, if Tony did find the Dawnguard there was no guarantee that Clint would be with them, though Tony tried not to think about that possibility.

Tony's two options also had the bonus problem of money; to rent a room for one night costs 10 septims, the stew cost 5 septims and Tony had wanted to be nice so he'd bought that dagger from Grelka for 10 septims. 25 septims spent today and only 20 left, if he went without food Tony could afford two more nights at the Bee and Barb. It wasn't ideal, he'd already eaten all the food from his bag on the walk over and he really doubted he'd survive two days without food. It also left the issue of what he'd do after the two days were up.

Tony groaned, running his hands through his hair. Adventuring wasn't as fun as Thor made it out to be, there were complications like bandits, wild animals, food, money and not taking a shower. Though Tony supposed being a god and a prince meant he didn't have those problems; well maybe still the shower part. Before going to bed Tony jammed the chair under the door handle, with all the talk of a thieves guild Tony didn't want to chance what little he had being stolen. Tomorrow morning he'd figure out a plan.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Reason Why Cars Were Invented

A plan did not miraculously come to Tony 'tomorrow morning'. Tony opted to explore the city more in depth, see if there was someway to earn money or a cheaper place to stay. In addition to the market stalls there was also a pawn shop, meadery and blacksmith's forge just off from the marketplace. Next to the forge, on the other side of the canal, was a building called Honorhall Orphanage, Tony didn't see any children but he heard shouting and laughing when he passed by.

Riften also had a large temple where the priests worshipped Mara, goddess of understanding and compassion, it was also a place to get married; Tony had been informed that presenting someone with an amulet of Mara was something akin to someone from Earth getting on one knee with a ring. Within the temple was a shine of Mara, when Tony had approached it one of the priests had insisted Tony pray as it would bless him and cure him of disease. Not wanting to be drowned in the canal for questioning their god Tony placed his hand on the shine and muttered something about coffee. To Tony's surprise the stone structure had glowed faintly and a warmth had momentarily flowed over him, he left the shrine feeling strangely refreshed and wondering what kind of trick the priests had placed on the statue. Was it automatically triggered or manually triggered by a priest? Was the sensation caused by some sort of energy or air born drug?

Below the temple was "the hall of the dead" a place where corpses were prepared for burial, and behind the temple was a graveyard. On the lower level of Riften by the canal was one other shop called Elgrim's Elixirs which sold potions and ingredients, Tony also passed the entrance to the Ratway; just a nondescript metal barred door leading into a dark tunnel system.

As Tony was walking back to the upper level he was interrupted by a heavily armoured man yelling at him.

"Hey you! I want to talk to you." The man marched towards Tony. "What's your business in Riften? The Black-Briars don't need some stranger nosing around their business."

"I'm not nosing anyone," Tony stepped back slightly from the towering man," I'm just waiting for a friend."

"Listen well stranger. I'm Maul, I work for Maven Black-Briar. I watch the streets for thieves and meddlers in the Black-Briar's business," Maul touch the hilt of his sword, "and I deal with 'em. Stay out of Black-Briar business and you'll live longer. Are we understood?"

"Yep," Tony nodded, "completely understood, Mordred. I'm a mechan- smith; I tinker not meddle."

Maul's eyes narrowed. "Maul." He corrected. "Watch yourself or you'll soon meet my blade."

After that cheery conversation Tony continued to wander around. The docks and buildings Tony had seen over the river when he'd first arrived at Riften could be accessed via double doors on the west wall. The docks held several small row boats, a fishery and store house. Tony saw Mjoll patrolling the docks with another man. He went to say hi and was introduced to Aerin, Tony chatted for a while then returned to within the city walls to continue his exploration.

The rest of the buildings were mainly residential and by midday Tony was stumped on what to do next. Tony was standing around watching some elf guy chop fire wood when someone called to him again.

"You're the traveller who delivered that fine sword to Mjoll." The man who spoke was exiting the building beside the forge. "Did you create such a blade? I know a fellow smith when I see one." The man had dirty blond hair and moustache, he had wide shoulders and would definitely defeat Tony in a fist fight. He was carrying a large roll of leather under one arm.

Tony shook his head. "Nah, that was Filnjar at Shor's Stone."

The man hummed in thought. "Makes sense, ebony ore is difficult to come by and even harder to craft. Have you any experience with the rarer ores, I mainly focus with iron and steel myself?"

"Uh- no, I haven't used a forge in a while." Which was true, Tony hadn't used an actual forge since his stay in the Afghan desert. "Are you Balimund? Filnjar said you were an excellent blacksmith."

"I am. Who might you be traveller, from where do you hail?"

"Oh, I'm Tony. I come from…" Tony made a vague hand gesture, "far off… west"

Balimund grunted unimpressed with the description. "To-nee is a strange name, you must be from far off indeed."

Tony shrugged. "It's short for Anthony."

Balimund began tying the leather to a vertical wooden rack. "What brings you to Riften Anto-nee."

Tony winced internally at the butchering of his name. "I'm waiting for the Dawnguard. Speaking of, do you know a cheaper place to rest other than the Bee and Barb, and somewhere I can earn some septims? I'm not sure how long I'll be waiting and I'd rather not starve to death."

"Riften does not often receive visitors, and those who come rarely stay for long. Perhaps the fishery or the meadery may require assistance, though the people of Riften are distrustful; especially to a stranger such as yourself."

Tony thanked the blacksmith and went to visit the fishery and meadery. By the time Tony was finished the sun was setting and he was completely disheartened. Distrustful was an understatement, unlike the guards at Mistveil Keep the citizens were down right paranoid when it came to their property. The man at the fishery looked as if Tony was planning to steal the river water as well as the fish. Tony stayed another night at the Bee and Barb inn and went to sleep hungry.

The next day Tony sat on the steps of the temple being miserable. He hadn't eaten in over 24 hours and he felt as if the dirt and grime were becoming a part of him; he smelt like the rest of the city and its occupants. Well, at least the lower-middle class citizens. His greasy hair was sticking to his forehead and ears, his clothing was stiff from dried sweat and he was itchy in several undesirable places; all in all, he felt gross. To make matters worse, Tony had discovered that the well was in disuse and the people of Riften got their drinking water from the river, which might be okay if they boiled it but they didn't. They also bathed in the river, about once a month, which had pleasant animals in it called slaughter fish; big fish with very sharp teeth.

Tony was mentally cursing crazy, evil sorceresses and their delusions when he was approached by a man. What was with the people of Riften and not leaving him alone?

"Ann-ton-ee the blacksmith, I am Asbjorn Fire-Tamer," the young man said, and seriously his name wasn't hard to say, the people of Skyrim spoke English for science's sake, "I am Balimund's apprentice. He wishes to speak with you."

"About what?" Tony asked. He didn't think he'd managed to insult the blacksmith yesterday.

"He has though on your troubles and believes that he can assist you whilst also curing some troubles of his own."

Tony frowned. "What is Balimund having trouble with?"

"The civil war has increased the demand for weapons for soldiers, Balimund would offer you food and lodgings in exchange for your skills as a smith."

Tony paused to study the man before him. Asbjorn appeared honest enough, except why would Balimund give this offer now instead of when they were talking yesterday? Tony asked as much.

"We are always cautious of thieves around here. A blacksmith's abode has many valuable weapons and ores to steal, normally Balimund wouldn't allow just anyone in. However, Mjoll has vouched for your honour and we require assistance; so I come to you with this deal."

Tony was surprised Mjoll had vouched for him, they had only spoken a handful of times and about nothing in depths or meaningful. Though she did call him friend, Tony assumed it was just to be polite. Tony would have to thank Mjoll for her help somehow.

Tony thought on the arrangement, he wouldn't starve or get killed by thieves while he waited. That made it almost ideal, besides the small fact that Tony had never made a sword in his life. Yet it was a minor detail, Tony was confident he could bluff this smithing thing. Tony had seen Filnjar make the ebony sword and people made medieval weapons on YouTube all the time, it couldn't be too difficult. He was also familiar with the properties of metals; at least the ones that exist on earth. Tony was a genius. He just needed to see the process once and in theory he could mimic it. If Balimund wasn't satisfied with Tony's work he'd just kick him out. Tony nodded, this was his best bet.

The specifics of the deal were; Tony would work to create weapons and armour from dawn to dusk, 6 of the 7 days of the week, in exchange Tony would receive three meals a day and he was allowed to roll out his sleeping bag in the basement. It was a decent deal and after convincing Balimund that, because he came from far away and was unfamiliar with the style of items Skyrim smiths made, he required a demonstration of the process first, yet he was nonetheless skilled at a forge. In other words, tonnes of bullshit was spoken.

It turns out Tony was right about the sword making, it was simple enough; his extensive knowledge on metal properties really helped with tempering the metal. Armour and maces were a fair bit harder than the bladed weapons but after a few corrections and tips from Asbjorn, which Tony had excused as him being rusty, he also got the hang of it. Tony definitely preferred leather and fur armours, they were way easier. After three weeks Tony could create the standard items without any references and Balimund appeared satisfied with the quality. Tony also made other things that he didn't need to pretend he already knew; because he was "only a weapons smith", like horse shoes, nails, door hinges, handles and the intricacies of locks and keys. Balimund was like a smith of all trades.

After three weeks Tony was getting somewhat agitated as there was no sign of the Dawnguard or Clint or the other Avengers. When he got the chance, Tony listened for any rumours on anything that may remotely connect to either of the three; the rumours were either mundane gossip or farfetched stories, so they held nothing of relevance. Tony was also hoping the slaughter fish were only stories, after a day of working at the forge he was utterly sick of the filth and had risked a dip in the river. So far, he hadn't encountered any man-eating fish and have since been taking a wash every morning at dawn, with his sword of course.

Over those three weeks Tony had also learnt about the weird humanoid creatures he'd seen. There were apparently several races in Nirn and they were all mainly separated in different regions of the world, kind of like the nine realms Thor talked about. Tony was currently in Skyrim which is a province of the continent Tamriel, Skyrim was mostly home to Nords who were a race of Men. Other than Men there were also the Mer races, Beastfolk and some other races starting with an A and an E. The races could apparently be divided into a few dozen categories, but Tony only bothered to remember the ones he was likely to run into.

Besides Nords the races of Men in Skyrim were; Imperials (such as the Black-Briars), Redguards and Bretons. The race of Mer seemed to be mostly elves; the High Elves (also called Altmer), Wood Elves (or Bosmer), Dark Elves (or Dunmer), Orcs (who weren't elves and did not look like them) and Snow Elves (or Falmer, who were weird blind creatures that lived in caves and ruins or something). The Beastfolk were a weird assortment of humanoids, although the only ones likely to be found in Skyrim were; Argonians (the lizard people) and Khajiit (cat people). Supposedly all these races were intelligent enough to function like normal humans; except the Falmer, that topic seemed debatable.

After a week Tony had also figure out a way to earn some money. On his day off Tony helped organise and inventory items for Wylandriah, who lived in a small room connected to the banquet hall in Mistveil Keep. Wylandriah was Jarl Laila's court wizard and more importantly she was the most absentminded individual Tony had ever met. Tony mostly recorded requests for potions and spells, labelled bottles of newly made potions, ordered new ingredients via courier and arranged items on the shelf so they were easily found.

Weirdly enough, even though Wylandriah could forget a conversation halfway through, she rarely needed to reference her multitude of book when creating potions or casting spells. Tony pondered whether it was like muscle memory for her or if she just threw random thing into her retorts and conical flasks. Either way Tony couldn't deny that at least some of it worked; the invisibility potion turned one customer invisible (which is concerning on so many levels, primarily considering the thieves guild), and a fire enchantment on a sword definitely set it on fire when swung. After witnessing several such cases Tony had to attest that something magical definitely existed in this world, since no amount of grinding, boiling and mixing of purple mountain flowers and human flesh should make someone harder to notice for a certain period of time; yet when Tony wasn't looking directly at that one customer, it was as if she faded from his peripheral vision (this potion also had concerning notions in regards to thieving).

One thing Tony was certain of is that being a wizard (or an alchemist for making potions and an enchanter for making magical items, e.g. the fire sword) paid very handsomely. One small, barely 50ml, potion bottle could easily cost 100 septims and the fire sword enchanting cost 90 septims, Wylandriah didn't even provide the sword; just a few muttered words, a pink crystal and a minor light show. This was good for Tony because Wylandriah paid Tony generously for his menial tasks; 10 septims an hour generous.

In other words, Tony's continued existence in Riften was looking up. He'd bought another pair of leather trousers and two tunics, one brown and one white, not unlike his own. Tony could now wash his clothes semi-frequently. Tony spoke to Mjoll and Aerin when he was free, and the more Tony got to know Mjoll the more he came to respect her. She reminded him of Thor; strong, brave, fierce, kind, honourable, blond, used a big-ass hammer. Yep, she was basically all the Steve and Thor goodness mixed together. But mostly Thor, due to the hammer and the way she spoke. Maul was also a lot nicer, meaning he no longer look as if he were moments away from stabbing him when they passed each other.

On the 23rd day of Tony's stay in Riften, Tony was eating his dinner by the dying embers of the forge, when a ruckus started outside the orphanage. Tony had a clear view of the orphanage, there were two guards, a kid and a woman Tony recognised as the orphanage caretaker, arguing outside.

"It's true, he took her. He had robes with a skull painted on and he was riding a wild horse, it had no saddle or anything." The boy waved frantically at the caretaker and guards. "He went in the direction of Snow-Shod farm, we have to do something."

One of the guards shook his head. "Enough with the stories Hroar. Night shift is dreaded enough without your crying."

"It's not a story-" the kid stomped his foot.

The caretaker gently placed a hand on Hroar's head. "Runa _is_ missing," she implored to the guard's, "could you please search where the children were playing for horse tracks?"

A guard snorted. "And risk a vampire attack. Your children shouldn't even be outside the city walls, if anything this is your mess to clean." Tony gritted his teeth at the words, vividly remembering Loki's cruel grin and a small bloodied tunic.

"We only wanted to gather some flowers." Hroar said.

"Please." The caretaker said softly. "I've never been outside Riften, I cannot find her on my own."

Tony grabbed his sword that was propped up against a work bench and crossed the bridge to the orphanage.

"Our job is to guard the city, not hunt for disobedient children. Teach them some discipline," the guards turned to walk away, "never had this problem with Grelod. If they were gone, they were gone." One guard muttered to the other.

The caretaker turned to a different guard patrolling the streets, however they turned away as well. There were also several other guards within ears shot, yet they did not move to interfere; another stunning example of Riften law enforcement. They didn't guard the Jarl nor did they guard the citizens.

Tony ignored the bitter taste in his mouth. "Where was she taken?" Tony asked the boy as he approached.

Hroar fumbled for a second. "Will you save Runa?" He cried.

"I will." Tony nodded firmly.

"Just outside the south gate." Hroar pointed to a wood door to the left of the orphanage. "We were picking flowers when he grabbed her, they went down the road towards Snow-Shod farm."

Tony clutched his sword in one hand and exhaled sharply. "Ok, I'll find her. You go back inside, she'll be back before dawn."

After several objections by Hroar and thanks from the caretaker, Tony was left in the dark streets with only guards about. It only took him a second to think of a plan. Tony rushed towards the northern end of the city; Tony had no tracking skills to speak of, no fighting skills and he didn't even know where Snow-Shod farm was, he couldn't find the girl on his own. Luckily, Tony knew someone who had said skills and knowledge of the surrounding areas.

Tony skidded to a stop in front of Mjoll and Aerin's house and pounded on the door. After what felt like millennia Mjoll opened the door with a drawn sword in hand. The sight was a little odd as she was in a plain tunic and trousers, Tony had only seen her in full armour plating; it didn't really occur to him that she ever took it off. Tony didn't dwell on it long and recounted the situation before Mjoll could open her mouth.

Mjoll pursed her lips in displeasure. "Thank you for coming to me, my friend. I will dress and be on my way at once." Mjoll disappeared and reappeared in full armour faster than Tony thought humanly possible. She hurried to the south gate and Tony followed after. There were guards stationed outside the south gate, and though they hadn't attempt to stop the children from leaving, they were happy to point them in the direction they went.

Mjoll found the horse tracks in record time. According to Mjoll the horse came from the direction of Snow-Shod farm via the cobble road, veered off towards the patch of flowers, then returned the way it came. The horse did not have horse shoes and was riding erratically, likely meaning it was not fully broken. Mjoll suspected magic was involved because apparently, riding a not-yet-tamed horse in the dark was near impossible and akin to suicide.

The cobble road was bracketed by the river on one side and the autumnal woods on the other. They walked along the road for a number of minutes, weapons drawn.

"It is not just this criminal we must be cautious of." Mjoll said quietly.

"Right," Tony said, "the vampires and werewolves."

"Indeed, and the bear infestation and trolls."

Tony glanced at the trees nervously, the deep shadows and many boulders and slopes could hide any number of things, resting only a handful of feet away. Tony held his sword ahead of him. Not long after, Mjoll moved off the road. They past a farm house and windmill, and continued heading further away from the road. By this point even Tony could see the horse tracks in the dirt, by moon light it was simple to follow. Tony could see the hoof prints leading through the trees and into the mouth of a cave.

They split up, sneaking to the left and right of the cave entrance. There was a narrow path that sloped downwards, blocking Tony from viewing further into the cave. Tony could hear chanting and a child crying, the sound followed by a minor echo; indicating to Tony that the cave wasn't vast. Before Tony could process any more information, Mjoll lifted her battle axe and charged into the cave. Tony scrambled after her. He reached the bottom of the slope in time to see Mjoll bring her gigantic axe down onto a man's head; and just like that, everything was over.

The man's head was caved in, blood and grey matter splayed in the dirt where he was hammered to the ground. Tony swallowed hard, and focused on where Mjoll was untying a little girl in the far corner of the cave cavern. Tony swallowed a few more times and stiffly walk closer to Mjoll and the sniffling girl.

"You are safe now child." Mjoll murmured reassuringly. "Let us return you to the orphanage."

"The man," Tony coughed to clear his suddenly scratchy throat, "I didn't think you'd kill him."

Mjoll frowned thoughtfully. "Usually I would attempt to throw criminals in jail. However, that man," she spat the word 'man' viciously, "was a monster. A necromancer who builds his craft on the death and unrest of others. He did not deserve mercy." Mjoll stated resolutely.

Tony swallowed again, his hand clenching and unclenching by his side. Tony felt dazed; right then acutely aware of the sweat dripping down his neck. His mouth was full of sand and he was breathing in hot air. This wasn't right, he should be happy. The little girl was safe, no one was hurt and the bad guy was dealt with. He was dead. Yes, he was dead but Tony had seen people die before. He'd killed people before; Tony hadn't felt an inkling of regret when he ignited those terrorists in Afghanistan. The sight of dozens of civilian causalities had driven him to drink and work until he blacked out, and where he woke with the sounds of screams and accusation in his ears. Yet in spite of that, a death had never made him feel so off kilter before, as if there was something fundamentally wrong with the world.

Tony blinked rapidly as a neigh and violent hoof beats penetrated his thoughts. The cavern was laughably small, Tony's bedroom was bigger, yet it somehow managed to accommodate an assortment of animals including a horse. The cave had a sizable stone structure in the centre, the structure was spotlighted by moonlight through an opening in the cave ceiling. Lying on top of the structure was a body spread eagle, Tony quickly glanced away breathing deeply. Around the base of the structure were various cages with animals inside; except the horse, it was simply restrained with a rope. Where the necromancer had died, there was a circle of lit candles and a dead fox in the centre.

Tony jumped when a hand touched his shoulder.

"Let us go now friend Anthony." Mjoll said.

The title felt strange and unfamiliar all of a sudden. Thor called him 'friend' all the time and Tony was secretly fond of that. He had liked Mjoll calling him 'friend' mostly because it reminded him of Thor and the other Avengers. Although right now the reminded didn't feel so good.

Tony stared at a point beyond Mjoll's shoulder. "Uhh… you take the kid home. I'm going to… free the animals."

Mjoll smiled kindly. "You have a brave and honourable heart." She patted him on the back. "I will be seeing you tomorrow." The kid followed Mjoll out of the cave.

Tony stood and absorbed his surroundings. He calmly reviewed the situation, trying to puzzle out what was bothering him. Was it because the man hadn't had the chance to fight back? Mjoll knew more about this world than Tony, she was probably right about necromancy. She had done the right thing, hadn't she? Tony of all people knew that tough decision had to be made, especially in regards to villains. They protected the innocent at the risk of no just their lives; they couldn't save everyone. Tony shook his head to clear the mental cobwebs, he was just on edge from the weeks spend waiting.

Tony inspected the cages. There were five metal cages, some stacked to top of the other, they held a fox, a rabbit and two chickens, with the last being open and empty. To the left of the cages was a pile of items, such as hay, carrots, apples and fish; likely for feeding the animals. The cages were held shut by a metal bolt, Tony released the rabbit and chickens first; the rabbit dashed from the cave and the chickens followed at a more sedated pace. The fox didn't attack Tony when free, and scampered after the chickens, probably to eat them. The horse was the hardest to free, after several attempts to get close and almost being trampled as a result, Tony decided he needed a new strategy.

In 'how to train your dragon' Hiccup tamed Toothless by sitting still, feeding him fish and slowly moving closer. Tony quickly found that this method did not work, the vegetables were smushed under hoof.

"I'm trying to help. Why are you trying to kick me?" The horse, thankfully, did not reply.

Tony sat on a cage and stared at the horse. Eventually the horse ceased its tossing and kick and stared right back; it was frankly the most haunting staring contest of Tony life. He was certain he saw intelligence in its black eyes, as well as a burning desire to eat him. Maybe Tony should have thrown the fish instead. Tony slowly reached for the fish, trying not to break eye contact. He held the fish out in front of himself, watching the horse focus on the dead aquatic life form. After a short time, the horse jerked its head at the fish and on que Tony lightly threw it at the horse's hooves. The horse sniffed at the fish, folded its legs underneath itself and did not eat the fish; it just lay there, doing nothing.

Tony was at a lost at what to do. After many more minutes of staring, Tony decided to try the rope again. His reasoning being, the horse was now sitting thus it couldn't kick him. He approached the horse until he was directly beside it. It was watching Tony but didn't react negatively, it was quite an attitude change; Tony understandable suspected a trap. He slowly reached for the rope around the horse's neck, found the knot and began untying it. Tony wouldn't risk using his sword, in fear of spooking the horse. Tony's fingers were shaking from nerves, causing the task to take significantly longer. As soon as the rope was undone, Tony swiftly backed away from the horse and backed right out of the cave.

He only dared to turn around when the horse was out of sight. Tony sighed in relief and began walking back to Riften. However, Tony's relief didn't last, as he heard the trot of hooves behind him. The horse was stopped a few feet away from him; Tony stepped away and the horse followed, he stopped and the horse stopped. All the hairs on Tony's body were standing on end, he should have left with Mjoll. Now he was going to be eaten by a demon horse.

Tony continued backing away and the horse continued following. Past the farm house and past the windmill, Tony tripping and hitting things along the way; he just prayed it wasn't another demon creature. The creepy staring only stopped when they reached the cobble road, when the river came in sight the horse shot past Tony and straight into the water; resulting in Tony's heart attempting to bust from his mouth. Tony hastened down the road, trying to put distance between them. For a second Tony though the river had distracted the demon, until he realised the splashing was following him. Tony increased the pace and the splashing did not fade, so he increased his pace again. By the time he reached Riften he practically ran through the gate.

Tony entered Balimund's house, went down to the basement and slumped against a wall. He desperately wished the Avengers would hurry up and get here already, he could handle the scrutiny, the grime, the work and the notion of magic, but he put his foot down at horses. Tony didn't think he could last any longer in a world where horses were common.


End file.
